The Hospital Ship

 

I can't be certain, but my best guess is that this is a military hospital ship.  But is the man on the right a doctor or a patient?  

The Army Hospital Album 29

And the (almost) never ending saga of the army hospital album continues.  The top two photos are labeled.  "Lnt. Carson"  I assume that Lnt. stands for Lieutenant.  The second, "Capt. Dr. Hill."  Perhaps someone out there can answer this question.  Are military hospitals segregated by rank.  Since a lieutenant is a patient, does that mean our photographer has to be an officer?

As usual, click on army hospital collection in labels to bring up the lot.

The Army Hospital Album 14

My eyes hurt!  I was out riding my bicycle, got an eyeful of dust, and it took a couple of days for my eyes to flush out all that grit.  It's a good thing I wasn't in the army hospital.  All that second hand smoke would have made things worse.  Just think, way back in the 1950s, doctors and nurses would offer a smoke to a patient to make them feel better.  How things change.

Click on army hospital collection in labels to bring up the lot.

The Army Hospital Album 13

Finally, an actual medical procedure.  In picture number four, some blood is being taken.  But what about the first picture?  Am I wrong?  Is that guy making a rug?  And, you'll have to take my word for it.  I needed my best magnifying glass to make it out.  The guy in the second photo is reading a story called The Coffee Cup Showdown.

As usual, click on army hospital collection in labels to bring up the lot.

The Army Hospital Album 12

It must have been boring in the army hospital.  For those unaware, the military was segregated before 1948.  Click on army hospital collection in the labels section to bring up the lot.

The Army Hospital Album 11

I'll be finishing out the year with  more images from The Army Hospital Collection.  We've got  more dates with this lot.  The scrabble players and the two nurses, "MAY 55"  I keep wondering if being in a military hospital is an open ended thing.  If a soldier's enlistment is over, but he's still considered too ill for service, what happens?  Continued enlistment until recovery? Release to a VA facility?  Just plain release, left to their own devices?  And of course, what would have happened in 1955, compared to today?

Click on army hospital collection in the labels section to bring up everything.  Lots more to come.

The Army Hospital Album 9

There's not a lot of color in this album.

Stamped on the back of all prints, "THIS IS A KODACOLOR PRINT MADE BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY . REGIS.  U.S. PAT OFF Week of July 11, 1955  VI  PA  2"

At least we have a date when these prints were made, and more than likely they were printed sometime within a month or two of when the pictures were taken.  I've been trying to do some research on the meaning of  "VI" and PA"  Having grown up in Pennsylvania, I can't help but going to "PA"  for, well PA.  But then I think about the "VI" and then it doesn't make so much sense.

Click on army hospital collection in labels to bring up the whole lot.